Level: Intermediate (B1) Age: Teenagers Time: 30 minutes Advertising; 60 minutes Advertising and Create an advertising campaign Summary: This lesson is divided into two sections: Advertising and Create an advertising campaign. In the lesson, students will: 1. discuss advertising techniques; 2. read advertising quotes; 3. create a magazine and TV ad. Key skills: speculating, giving opinions, language of persuasion, making suggestions Materials: Copies of a variety of magazines and newspapers for the class and a pair of scissors for each group of students. One copy of the Advertising worksheet per student; one copy of the Create an advertising campaign worksheet per small group of students. Teacher s notes 1 1. Students work in small groups. Give them one minute to list all the different places they can think of where they see advertising. Hand out the Advertising worksheet to give the students some ideas and ask them to identify the pictures in groups. They compare their list with other groups. Which group has the longest list? 2. In the same groups, give the students copies of different magazines/newspapers. They should choose some adverts and cut them out, removing any references to the name of the product being advertised. Then, each group shows their adverts to the other groups in the class. Which one do students think has a greater influence on them as a consumer? 7. Ask students to look again at the worksheet and focus on activity 3, which looks at the different techniques TV ads use to promote products. Students read the descriptions of how each of the techniques works and then think of a current TV ad that uses each technique. 8. Students should now compare their answers in pairs. Bring the class back together and discuss the following questions. How many of the ads that they have listed also use one or more of the other techniques? 3. Students are going to speculate about what the adverts are for. Go through the Phrasebook on the Advertising worksheet, helping them with language used to speculate. 4. Groups circulate, discussing what they think each product being advertised is, using the expressions from the Phrasebook. Encourage them to give reasons for their guesses. They should make a note of the product name. 5. Ask the groups to reveal the products and conduct some feedback. How many of the images did the students recognize? Which adverts were the most difficult to recognize? Why? 6. Discuss the following questions as a class. What differences are there between magazine and TV ads? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two forms of advertising? Can they think of any ads that use a lot of the techniques together? Do they have a favourite ad at the moment? Why do they like it so much? 9. Write the prompts below on the board. Tell students to think of a TV ad and complete the information about it. They show the information to a classmate. Can they guess what the ad is? People: Who s in the ad? Place: Where is the ad located? Action: What happens in the ad? Opinion: Which words do you associate with the ad? 10. Read out the following quotation. Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century.
Ask students if they agree with this quote. Acknowledge their views, but play devil s advocate to get a short debate going. 11. Working in pairs, students now discuss the other quotes in activity 4 on the worksheet. 12. Ask everyone to choose the quotes they most agree and disagree with. Which are the most and least popular quotes in the class? Next, ask students to vote on whether they think advertising is basically a good thing (interesting, creative, useful), or a bad thing (dishonest, creating false needs, intrusive). They should try to reach a general conclusion. What s the majority view of the class? 13. As a follow-up activity, you could organize a simulated TV talk show about issues connected to advertising. Ask students to brainstorm the following issues, and any others they like, in preparation for the debate. the role of censorship the influence of advertising on children the link between advertising and bad self-esteem in teenagers 14. Sit the class in a semicircle and ask a confident student to be the host. Give the host a (pretend) microphone and let him or her go around the TV audience asking people what they think about advertising-related issues. The host s job should also be to ensure people respect turn-taking and prevent a small minority of the group from dominating proceedings. CREATE AN CAMPAIGN HOMEWORK TASK Students find an advert they like (or dislike) and analyse it. They should make notes on the following: Describe what you see in the advert. What is the effect of what you see? What claims or promises are made in the advert? How does the advert make you want to buy the product? How could the advert be improved? Teacher s notes 2 1. Students are going to create an advertising campaign. Divide the class into groups and give each group a copy of the Create an advertising campaign worksheet. This activity will work best if all the groups/advertising agencies in the class are creating campaigns for the same type of product. Let the whole class choose the type of product in step 1. Then, let them create their campaigns by following steps 2 and 3. 2. If you have access to a recording device, the radio and TV ads could be recorded for presentation to the class. Which group produces the best ad?
1. How many different types of advertisement can you name? What can you see in the pictures? Do you have a favourite ad at the moment? Advertising worksheet 1 2. Choose some images from the magazines/newspaper that your teacher has given you. Cut out the advert, leaving out the name of the product or brand. Show your images to your partner. How many products/brands can they guess? PHRASEBOOK Speculating If you are very confident This one must be an advert for This is definitely an advert for No doubt about it; this one is This one can t be an advert for There s no way this is advertising If you re less sure This might / could be an advert for This looks like it could be advertising I m not sure about this one, but maybe This is a tricky one. Do you think it s? Using clues to help you Judging by the, this must be an advert for Oh, look there s a in this one. So, this is probably an advert for Can you see the in the background / at the bottom / at the top? What s that meant to be? I can t make it out. The man in this advert seems to be The slogan makes me think this is an advert for
TV ADVERTS 3. Here are some of the techniques used in TV advertising. Can you think of a current or recent TV ad that uses each technique? TECHNIQUE HOW IT WORKS EXAMPLE testimonial humour comparison get a well-known person to recommend the product make the customer laugh compare the product with a direct rival Advertising worksheet 2 emotional appeal health esoteric special offers appeal to basic instincts like physical attraction or family love suggest the product will make you feel better, live longer, etc. make the ad bizarre and/or hard to understand offer the customer free gifts or discounts science mention test results, advanced technology, etc. lifestyle associate the product with a particular way of living AD QUOTES 4. Here are some quotes about advertising. Which ones do you agree with? Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper. Thomas Jefferson Telling lies does not work in advertising. Tim Bell What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it. David Ogilvy Advertising is legalized lying. H G Wells Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their product as they do on advertising and they wouldn t have to advertise it. Will Rogers History will see advertising as one of the real evil things of our time. Malcolm Muggeridge The more facts you tell, the more you sell. Dr Charles Edwards You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements. Norman Douglas Living in an age of advertisement, we are perpetually disillusioned. J B Priestley Ads are the cave art of the 20th century. Marshall McLuhan
CREATE AN CAMPAIGN Now, it s time to create your own advertising campaign for a product of your choice. All you have to do is follow these steps. STEP 1 CHOOSE A PRODUCT You are going to compete with other agencies to advertise a new product for a company (the client). Choose a product that will best allow your agency to demonstrate its creativity. Here are some ideas: Write the type of product here: STEP 2 fast food perfume or fragrance CREATE AN AD AGENCY soft drink women s clothes Advertising campaigns are usually created by a team of people, so form a group with some other students and think of a name for your advertising agency. Most agencies use the names of the people who set them up such as J Walter Thompson, McCann-Erickson, Young & Rubicam, Lowe Lintas & Partners. Write the name of your agency here: gym car Create an advertising campaign worksheet 1 STEP 3 PLAN THE CAMPAIGN Follow the steps below. 1. Describe the product. 2. Think of a name for the product. 3. Invent a slogan. 4. Create a customer profile (age, sex, lifestyle, etc.). 5. Decide what product qualities to promote. What makes it different from its rivals? 6. Choose the best technique(s) for selling the product. 7. Design and produce a printed ad that will attract the customer s attention. 8. Plan a TV or radio ad. Record it, if you are able to. Keep it short, and consider using music. STEP 4 COMPETE FOR THE ACCOUNT You now have to show your ad campaign to the client. Show your printed ad to friends or classmates, and play them (or read aloud) your TV or radio ad. What do they think of your campaign? The best campaign gets the job!